Let us measure with pride the road that we have travelled, ever since we decided together to promote long-term investments for the real economy in Europe.

Over the course of more than 30 conferences, we endeavored to capture the plurality of the dimensions of long term investment and brought at the same table key actors from too often separate worlds. European Commissioners, national and local representatives, representatives of the industrial, financial, social sectors and public investors joined together to discuss the investment needed in key sectors for the future of the EU – urban development, transport and energy infrastructures, digitalisation… – and assess solutions, in particular the roll-out of the Juncker Plan.

To mark the end of this legislature and celebrate together our achievements, we are very pleased to invite you to this cocktail.

For external participants : 14:30-14:50, in front of the main entrance of the European Parliament (ASP Building)

RESTORING COMPETITIVENESS AND GROWTH POTENTIAL IN EU:

What Long-Term Investments for the Europe of tomorrow?

This conference took stock on the achievements regarding the creation of a conducive environment for long-term investments in Europe, from the Green paper on the Long-term financing of the European Economy by former Commissioner Barnier (2013) up to the Capital Markets Union (prudential regulation, accounting standards, governance issues…) and the Action plan on sustainable finance published earlier this year.

For the occasion was presented the report “Betting on the long term – Rebuilding investment for the Europe of tommorrow”, conducted by the task-force of Paris financial center under the supervision of former AXA financial director, Gérard de La Martinière.

Just a few months before the next European elections, now it was crucial timing to assess what has been done and to determine the remaining barriers to address.

Throughout year 2017, the Jacques Delors Institute conducted a study (accessible here) which explores NPBIs’ experience in the roll-out and implementation of EU market-based instruments with a strong perspective in the current proposals for the next MFF and notably the architecture of the InvestEU Fund.

A public presentation and discussion of this study Making better use of public funding: The role of NPBIs in the next EU budget will be held on :

As the condition of Europe’s ageing transport network has become a major issue in terms of competitiveness and territorial cohesion, modernization appears a key element to tackle long term challenges facing the EU : climate change, road safety, accessibility at regional and very local scale and as recently declared, military mobility.

In this context, how to ensure proper level of #EUinvestment for the maintenance and upgrade of the network in a context of scarcity of public resources ?

What role can CEF, Structural funds and the upcoming #InvestEU play in improving the daily life of millions of European commuters and transporters ?

On February 19, the Long-term investment Intergroup held a lunch-debate on the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) and its potential to boost European cooperative defence programmes while offering opportunities for enterprises in the defence sector.

A year ago, The European Long Term Investors Association (ELTI asked former President of the European Commission and Primer Minister of Italy Romano Prodi to chair a High-Level Task-Force bringing together highly experienced persons from different backgrounds (former minister, trade-unionist, economists, representatives from public companies …) to scrutinize investments in Social Infrastructure in Europe and to find ways to enhance them. This initiative underlining the need for additional investments in health, education and affordable housing, received a strong and immediate support from European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen. Several experts have analysed future developments against the current situation.

On January 23, the main findings of the report were presented at the European Commission premises. Proposals articulate in different timeline horizons (short, mid-term and long -term) and around three main ideas :

« Labelling » National and European institutions could grant labels to projects according to social efficiency criteria. These labels could facilitate identification and, in turn, the financing of these projects.

« Bundling » projects. As most projects are small-scale projects, requiring a limited amount of investment, bringing them together could reduce the fixed costs and favour their dissemination.

« Blending » financing. In the current state of the economy, financing for these projects cannot come from one single body. Mixing public and private financing and/or using social impact bonds, could facilitate the access of Social Infrastructure to financing, while maintaining their unique benefits for the community.

On November 23, in the context of the Invest Week, the Intergroup on Long-term Investment and Reindustrialisation and the European Real Estate Forum (EREF) jointly sponsored a breakfast event in the European Parliament. The event focused on how infrastructure and real estate are long-term investments that are attractive to institutional investors such as pension funds and insurance companies and that have many similarities and synergies.

As part of Invest Week, successful founders from some of Europe’s most exciting companies joined Vice-President Katainen to explore the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in improving the way we live and work. This roundtable provided an opportunity to debate with business pioneers and the newly appointed Chairman of the High Level Group of Innovators of the European Innovation Council on how to ensure that growing companies get access to the investment and support they need to scale-up in Europe.